Press release

Only one point separates Russia and Poland from Olympic ticket

Poland stormed back from two sets down with Italy to claim the real highlight of the day in Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan, December 2, 2011 – Poland claimed the real highlight of the day as the fourth and last round of action in the FIVB World Cup got started in Tokyo by storming back from two sets down to finally edge Italy with a classy performance and by scoring all key points of the match. With this win and only two more days to go, Poland is very close to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London. Brazil moved up to third in the provisional standings after seeing off Iran in straight sets and taking advantage of the 2:3 defeat suffered by Italy later on Friday afternoon. The race for the three tickets at stake to book a trip to the Olympics is basically restricted to these three teams and of course to another heavyweight of international volleyball, i.e. Russia. The winners of the 2011 FIVB World League finals bested Japan in straight sets to move to the top of the charts as they enjoy a better sets ratio than their rivals from Poland. With today’s results, these teams need to take home only one more point in the next two days of action to fulfill their Olympic dream.

Poland rallied for a five-set victory over Italy (17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-12) on the first day of fourth-round action in the 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup at Yoyogi National Gym on Friday. The victory improved Poland’s record in the tournament to an impressive 8-1. Italy dropped to 6-3 with the loss. Piotr Nowakowski sparked Poland with 15 points. Zbigniew Bartman and Michal Ruciak added 14 each. Ruciak was named the most impressive player of the entertaining match. Cristian Savani led Italy with a match-high 20 points while Michal Lasko contributed 19. The lone blemish for Poland came against Iran in the second round in Osaka. Italy’s only two losses entering the match were to Russia and Cuba. The Italians appeared to be in complete control after the first two sets, only to the match completely turn on them. Italy coach Mauro Berruto stated: “The explanation for this defeat is not in the numbers. Our opponents were better than us in the key moments. Such matches are part of the long process of forming the team. The start of the fourth set was important. We missed several serves. We had four or five mistakes in the first 15 points”.

Russia downed Japan in straight sets (25-23, 25-16, 25-23) to complete the daily program at “Yoyogi National Stadium” on Friday. The win improved Russia win/loss record to 8-1 in the tournament while Japan, which had the upper hand for most of the first set, slipped to 2-7 with the defeat. Maxim Mikhaylov, with a match-high 19 points, and Denis Biriukov, with 12 points, played key roles for Russia in the triumph. Biriukov was named the most impressive player of the match. Kunihiro Shimizu anchored Japan with 12 points.

Brazil recorded a comprehensive victory over Iran in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, and 25-16). As the teams opened the final round of the tournament looking to secure one of the three spots to next summer’s London Olympics, Brazil improved their record to 6-3 with the win. The loss dropped Iran to 5-4. Gilberto Godoy Filho, “Giba”, paced Brazil with 15 points, while Sidnei dos Santos added 14. Giba was also named the most impressive player of the match while Arash Kamalvand and Hamzeh Zarini had eight points each for Iran. Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende commented after the game: “Iran has had very impressive results in this tournament. They have been amazing. They have given energy to those watching them. We are trying to improve and learn from each match. We have to win these next two matches. We studied their blocking and attacking as we knew they were good at blocking. We tried to keep the rhythm and move the ball and stay away from their strengths”.

Serbia, despite their 2-6 record in the 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup, came into their fourth round game against Egypt riding a high after defeating top-ranked Brazil in their last match. They would take another win against a spirited Egyptian team at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Friday with a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 28-26). Serbia was led by their captain Ivan Miljkovic who contributed 18 points in the match. He was supported by the high-flying Milos Nikic with 16. Leading Egypt in scoring was their lethal lefty Ahmed Abdelhay, who led all scorers with 25 points, including three blocks.

After an impressive third round showing which saw them beat heavyweights Brazil and Italy, Cuba opened the final round of 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup with a tough five-set win (25-21, 18-25, 26-28, 25-20, 15-13) against China at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Leading the way for Cuba in this high-scoring affair was Fernando Hernandez Ramos with 27 points. Right behind him was his captain Wilfredo Leon Venero with 19. For the losing Chinese side, it was Yuan Zhi leading with 26 points while Zhong Weijun added 24 to the final count. “It’s true we won, but I’m not satisfied with the quality of the match. I’m always happy to win, but today we lacked aggressiveness and we didn’t have many successful blocks” commented Cuba coach Orlando Samuels.

The last match of the day at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium turned into a real marathon that lasted for almost 2 hours before the United States eventually edged Argentina 3:2 (27-29, 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 15-12) to improve their win/loss record to 5-4 in the tournament.